Every leader overcomes hardship by undergoing a self-reflection journey that ultimately leads to personal and professional growth. Perception tells us hardship sought us, and reality reminds us we can have incredible opportunities. The arrival of misfortune at my doorstep forced me to reflect on suppressed ‘gut feeling’ experiences relating to race, gender, and socioeconomic class.
Experiencing the emotional impact of a layoff released aspirations only imagined. Particularly the need to explore organizational opportunities benefiting First Generation Professionals (FGPs). As one myself, I now embrace my lived experiences, identities, and the ability to examine existing barriers in research serving FGPs.
Having worked in Human Resources, I understand the complex business challenges leading to layoffs and selecting the proper skill set to meet organizational goals. Acknowledging the layoff was easy; what was difficult was never knowing if it was rooted in implicit bias. At this rate in my career, I’d become familiar with best practices; I’d never imagined experiencing blunt stereotypes around logic.
I gained the motivation to recognize the role power and privilege play in corporate settings and beyond. The moment to further reflect on my role and the role I didn’t play. But most importantly, I realized I wasn’t immune to office politics.
Why did office politics feel so foreign to me?
See, office politics isn’t a word I’d typically associate myself to. Office politics always felt like it belonged to those with power and privilege: primarily white employees and people in leadership. However, office politics is woven into the invisible cloak of unspoken organizational norms. The second you fall off invisible norms, you potentially engage in office politics. Especially for first-generation professionals unaware of white-collar spaces and their associated politics.
I want to explain office politics briefly. As employees, we are perceived to know how to negotiate, influence, engage, convince, and persuade favorable actions within our environments. But if we don’t inherently know that negotiation continues outside of a job offer, how can we determine when to move the dice? Instead of figuring out players’ part of a more extensive system of barriers, I’ve focused my learnings on identifying behavioral responses that suit my professional values and authenticity as a first gen professional.
I combine my expertise and lived experiences to create more inclusive work environments. As we enter professional settings seeking unique perspectives, we must learn to manage the already existing power, authority, and privilege. I’ve listed 4 Tips for Managing Office Politics and recommend these be factors to document when you feel a lack of inclusion.